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Lot Essay
The bold combination of rocaille and chinoiserie employed in these chenets is typical of the objets de luxe supplied by the great Parisian Marchand Mercier Lazare Duvaux at the height of the Roccoco. In 1756 Duvaux supplied to Mme la Marquise de la Ferrière 'Un petit feu doré d'ormoulu composé de figures chinoises avec ses garnitures de pelles et pincette', see Christie's London, 5 July 2001, lot 88, which perfectly demonstrates his oeuvre.
A pair of apparently identical chenets from the collection of Elim Demidoff, 3rd Prince of San Donato (1868-1943), Russian Minister to Greece 1912-17, was sold Sotheby's Monaco 24 February 1986, lot 1428 (49,950 Frs. incl.). Elim's great-grandfather Count Nicholas Demidoff (1773-1828) had amassed a superb collection of pictures, silver, furniture and works of art at the hôtel de Montholon and subsequently hôtel de Montesson in Paris and the Villa San Donato near Florence. The high Louis XV style of these chenets encapsulated his taste for the grandeur of the late years of the Ancien Regimè and perfectly illustrate the taste brought into play in forming the renowned Demidoff collection.
A pair of apparently identical chenets from the collection of Elim Demidoff, 3rd Prince of San Donato (1868-1943), Russian Minister to Greece 1912-17, was sold Sotheby's Monaco 24 February 1986, lot 1428 (49,950 Frs. incl.). Elim's great-grandfather Count Nicholas Demidoff (1773-1828) had amassed a superb collection of pictures, silver, furniture and works of art at the hôtel de Montholon and subsequently hôtel de Montesson in Paris and the Villa San Donato near Florence. The high Louis XV style of these chenets encapsulated his taste for the grandeur of the late years of the Ancien Regimè and perfectly illustrate the taste brought into play in forming the renowned Demidoff collection.